← Apex Mountain

Coming to America

1988 · directed by John Landis · 117 min
25,236 feet · Prominence
426th of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Coming to America’ With Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, and Wesley Morris →

How this film scores

Draw76

Lifetime worldwide gross $289m, re-releases included; about $805m in 2026 money.

Rank290 of 11,051In 19883 of 173

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise61

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics59 baseAwards10 signal → +2 lift

Oscars2 nominated Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy72

Judged directly: McDowell's and Randy Watson endlessly quoted.

Verdict72 of 100IMDb7.1 from 238kWikipedia0k views a monthAge38 years

Scored beside it · 272 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 76 praise 61 legacy 72averages 70, placing it at25,236 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Arsenio Hall▲ Shari Headley

In these careers — elevation for this film

Eddie Murphy20,589 ftJames Earl Jones18,949 ftJohn Amos18,312 ftArsenio Hall18,300 ftShari Headley17,978 ftSamuel L. Jackson17,673 ftCuba Gooding Jr.17,667 ftDon Ameche17,654 ftFrankie Faison17,643 ftVondie Curtis-Hall17,642 ftRalph Bellamy17,636 ft